Setright

WAIT! There isn't supposed to be a gasket here. There is a o-ring on the filler neck, where it reaches into the valve cover. Undo the two bolts, pull the neck up and all will be revealed. Don't repeat my mistake..:-)

Blitz, check out Phillips "gold" and "all weather". Plenty of light, but far less glare. The Nightvision is the best bulb I have tried in terms of lighting. Three colours! But they don't last long...

The water pump needs inspecting too. Please try searching around the board, lots if information on the symptoms of head gasket failure - like when the overheating happens and the exact behaviour.

Yes Texan, standard wattage. I have recently started to return to "All weather" or "Gold" bulbs. The reason is the amount of road signs over here. The number is growing and the reflective coating has increased in quality - I find that I get blinded by the "white" bulbs :-\

Ahhh, Texan! Great minds think alike! I also slow down on the footbrake, but perform the halt using the handbrake :-) Happy New Year!

Install the new pads, drive normally - avoid hard stops - for around 200 miles. By this time you should be able to tell from the rotor surface that the pads have seated evenly. Then, take the car out on a lonely road and give the brakes a workout, 8-10 hard stops from 60mph-10mph and then cruise until they cool again. For goodness sake don't come to a halt while the brakes are hot! Read the Stoptech info on this, very good break-in instructions!

I don't doubt that your present temps are fine, but if you do some "spirited" driving you might like the extra cooling capacity. If your rad is presently working at 90% to keep things in check, then you're not far off an overheating situation - especially with a bigger turbo :-) Just a suggestion from a careful man. Please consider that I have BIG respect for your skills

Yeah, as long it's moulded to the right shape, you can pinch a few pennies here. (Stay way from anything that says "universal" - in fitting terms)

Nice Josh, liking your torque curve already Of course, being a cautios man myself, I would run a bigger radiator. Have you tried comparing the two? Euro turbo rads much bigger than NA.

Well, we used to get the made in USA puralator filters over here in Europe, now we get made Japan. Old was large and white, new is small and black. No problems with about ten of these so far..

"Fresh coolant" is code word for pre-mixed stuff Of course I don't use 100% glycol. MErry Christmas!

YEssir! Unless Bosch has started etching "Hitachi" into the metal housing (My car is a euro spec Impreza)

Well, while I do agree that they don't look used, they certainly are identically machined. IN FACT, why isn't that big flat surface machined??? I bought Brembos for the same car a few years ago there was no casting surface that hadn't been turned. I vote: Complain!

Okay, Zooma. Some fair points maybe, but the four tyres thing is a 4WD trait. Nothing to do with Subaru alone. A FWD Forester? That's just not serious ;-)

Yep, that ABS motor in the Hitachi system is very noisy! The Bosch system in my 1990 Legacy was relatively quiet.

Yeah, the ABS will be fine. It uses an accelerometer to verify the wheel speed readings. The 06 STi has 5x114 bolt pattern, so maybe your 2.5 does too? Hang on to those old wheels. I would avoid straying more than 5mm from the stock offset. If you are like me, you will notice the difference :-)

With the engine cold - off for at least four hours, or if possible overnight - open the radiator cap. Is the coolant reaching the top? Is there any sign of oil on the surface of the coolant? Check around the hoses in the engine room, maybe one has a small leak. I had this recently, and it was hard to track down, because the coolant was escaping as steam, but only in small amounts. That meant no traces of it leaving.. For peace of mind on your road trip: Fit a brand new Genuine Subaru radiator cap and bring a gallon of fresh coolant. Happy Holidays :-)

It's a bad clutch.

You mean oversteering around the small untraveled country roads like I was doing yesterday? Yep, right here in Hamlet's backyard ;-)

Well, no. However, the cylinder liners are of the "dry" type. They're pressed into the alu block and have no contact with the coolant. The most likely thing is a tiny head gasket leak. Compression and exhaust gases are slipping out, into the coolant, but the leak is too small to register on a comp test. Try testing the coolant for carbon monoxide. A cracked cylinder liner AND a cracked block would give the same symptoms as a HG failure, but it's not very likely.

NGK are the most loved for these engines. NGK BKR6E-11 or BKR5E-11 if you do alot of low-rev, city driving. Those plugs are one notch "hotter" and will keep themselves clean under those circumstances.

My vote is with NorthWet, too.

Yes, you can replace it. The exhuast sound might become a tiny bit more lively, but in no way is it dangerous.

This is what I suggest: Editted! Addition in bold: Having replaced coolant on my boxers many times, I have been searching for the right way to get all the old fluid out and getting as much new fluid in, without having to burp the system for a week after I'm done. I think I have finally cracked it! Draining Drain the radiator as far as possible with the little "faucett", and then detach the lower hose from the radiator. (If you are like me, replace any coolant hoses that you remove, and use stainless steel clamps on the new ones) Even more fluid will drain from the radiator, and some will drain from the engine block. Detach the upper hose from the radiator, and run clean water through the rad until it comes out of the bottom clear in color. Now, I do not contest that the best way to flush the engine block is by unscrewing the two drain plugs, but these are often seized and could turn into a source of trouble if you strip the threads or if they won't seal tight when you screw them back in. SO, I jack up the rear of the car until the engine block is tilting slight forward, ie. wheels about 6 inches off the ground, unscrew the thermostat housing, and let the old fluid run out through the thermostat opening. (Needless to say, I replace the thermostat gasket) Run clean water in through the upper hose until clear water comes out of the thermostat opening. Leave the car in this position until it stops dripping water. Remove the expansion tank and flush it, there will be plenty of "snot" in the bottom of it! Rinse the hose too. Install the tank again and fill to the FULL mark. Filling Close up the bottom end of the cooling system, ie. thermostat and lower hose. If possible, perform the next phase on a slight incline, car pointing upward. Get a funnel with about 10 inches of half-inch diameter hose on the end of it and slide this down the upper hose in toward the engine block. I do this because bending the upper rad hose causes it to collapse and that makes pouring coolant into it impossible. Pour your preferred coolant directly into the engine block. Pouring slowly, and pausing along the way will help keep air from being trapped inside the block. It should swallow at about two litres before it starts to rise and threaten to come out of the hose. At that point, attach the upper hose to the rad and continue to fill slowly through the rad cap hole. Once it seems full, start the engine, let it run for twenty seconds and shut it off again. This will dislodge the few air pockets that are unavoidable and the fluid level in the radiator should drop a little after the burp, top it off. Start the engine again, and let it run until the radiator fan starts running, be patient! When then fan starts running, top off the level in the rad and install the radiator cap - and bleed screw if there is one. During the warm up, a small amount of coolant will spill over the rad filler neck, have a cloth to absorb it. Take the car for a shortish run, just a few miles to get it fully warmed up, and park it on level ground. Check hoses for leaks of course, and let it cool. This will take a number of hours, overnight is good. In the morning, note the level in the expansion tank, it will probably be a little lower than FULL. Fill to the FULL mark, and you're all set. Obviously, you should check the level in the expansion tank for a few days afterward, but there shouldn't be any problems. Resist the temptation to open the rad cap, this will only interfere.

Yes, ABS pump self-test can be noisy. If the noise occurs right before you crank the engine, I would reckon it's the fuel filter being pumped up to pressure. I can hear mine in the morning...whiiiirrrrrrup.